* Storytime for Christmas: reading "Applesauce and the Christmas Miracle"* Coping with Summer Pregnancy.* Breastfeeding and alcohol.* Looking after YOU.* what does Christmas mean to me.* Singing of Summer

Bah Humbug!They have a tea set, with mini pots and pans, spatulas…but it is the real ones they want.They have a toy tool set (a nice wooden one)…but nothing beats the real thing.They have a doll house..whatever!Stuffed toys…what are you supposed to do with these?I bought my daughter a baby doll when she was two. Expensive too. I told everyone, and asked please don’t give her a doll. Of course she was given a doll…a cheap baby doll…and of course it became The Baby, while my expensive agonised over choice was rejected! Sigh.The silly season is upon us.The stores have the decorations up and the jingles and santas will make shopping such a joyous experience!bah! humbug!

I can feel my heart turning to stone already as the consumerist bullshit closes in.I still feel a need to find some way to give meaning, or even mere explanation, to this insanity. To help capture the positive: family oriented focus of the silly season, a sense of compassion towards others and a thankfulness for our fortunes. And to help understand (and reject) the negatives: consumerism, greed, emptiness…This time of year (regardless of hemisphere) is the toy breeding season. By the end of the year, in the guise of gifts, toys will appear. Perhaps you will welcome some as thoughtful and loving gifts, which will become precious (like the baby doll I didn’t buy). Most however, will be merely stuff. Fleeting trends or fads that will break, be lost or lose their lustre before the season changes.How do you combat this process?

IN THE NEXT NEWSLETTERStorytime: suggest a story!Launching 2017 Awesomeness

It is Your Christmas. Your Way.My ‘Bah Humbug!’ reflects my feelings towards the very commercial christmas.For this reason, Santa does not feature in our parenting. Our children are aware of the ‘game’. They know the appearance of ‘christmas men’ means that Christmas is coming and that means a pretty fun and special time. They watch ‘The Polar Express’, and are familiar with Santa in popular culture (how can you not be!). But there will be no photo taken on a Santa’s knee in a shopping centre.Our celebrations will be full of love, laughter, special food, and music.We have agreed, as parents, that we would like to instil a sense of wonder for this time of year; to capture the love, laughter and sharing that happens and focus on that.We will create an atmosphere of celebration, there will be music (created by us, and played on the stereo), there will be dancing and singing (If you can’t sing good – sing LOUD!). We mark the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. This is a time to connect to the Earth, to recognise our reliance on the Sun and the Cycle of Seasons.Celebrations such as these are important for grounding and centering us. They help develop our morals and sense of purpose.I love that we live in a society where we have the freedom to develop and establish our own rituals, our own sense of celebration. We are all different, and will recognise special times in different ways. Whether it is the passing of a loved one, birthdays, anniversaries, births, marriages, coming-of-age, or events such as Christmas.I hope you are safe and filled will love and light throughout this festive season.I hope you have Joy in your heart and the Freedom to express yourself.In whatever way you choose.Yours in Informed Birth Preparation

Be a ContributorDo you run a podcast, write a blog or have you published research or a book?Do you want to share a resource or article that has informed or inspired you? Use this form to submit your offering. You can upload a file (pdf) or an image (including one of you to go with your bio), or put a link in the comments. I will include your contribution in the next newsletter.

All links are GOLD. External links open in a new page. ​I endeavour to only link to safe and non-spam websites.​ ​This website, and any provided links and reviews, ​are intended as information only. How you use this is up to you.

Catherine is a member of the Doula Network Australia

This website (including the Member Area) is free to access and free of adverts. If you love what you find here, say Thank You by sharing what you love in your social networks andSIGN UP TO THE NEWSLETTER